Christmas In Splatalot
by BlueJay026
Summary: The Defenders are getting ready to celebrate Christmas! Follow along as they decorate the castle, hunt for a tree, and much more!
1. That Time of Year

**Woo-hoo! Christmas is almost here! So in the spirit of Christmas, I've decided to do some Splatalot stories based around the holiday. I was originally gonna post this first part on December 1, but I grew impatient and decided to do it today. Hope you enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Splatalot. Or Doctor Who.**

It was a freezing day in the Kingdom of Splatalot. It was snowing, and the moat's surface had turned to ice. A stinging wind was swirling around the castle, and the air chilled everything it touched.

Inside the castle, though, it was warm and cozy. The English warrior with the mohawk, Thorne, was currently sitting in an armchair in the castle's large living room. He was reading through his favorite catalogue, _Alchemist Monthly._

Just as Thorne was about to read through the section "How To Torture With CO2," he heard someone step into the room. He pretended not to notice anything as Kookaburra approached him.

"I didn't know you were interested in magazines, Thorne," Kookaburra stated, scanning Thorne's catalogue.

The alchemist ignored Kook. The bird watched him for a second, then smirked.

"What's next, Doctor Who fanfiction?"

The bird laughed. Thorne flipped to the "101 Ways to Use Tar On Your Annoying Friends" section, but didn't respond verbally. Kookaburra frowned. He didn't like that one bit. The whole point of annoying Thorne was to get some type of reaction out of him. After thinking longer and harder for ideas, he grinned mischievously.

"Did yer mum subscribe that for you?"

Thorne slapped his magazine down on his lap. "Doesn't _your_ mom still chew your food for you?"

Kook's jaw dropped indignantly. After a brief pause, he grudgingly crossed his arms and looked at the ground. "...Sometimes..."

Thorne lifted the magazine back up in front of his face. "I'll get you a blender for Christmas," he stated, putting one leg on top of the other.

Defeated, Kook made a face and stuck his tongue out at the alchemist. Right at that moment, Knightriss marched in.

"Defenders! It's that time of year again!" she announced.

"Time for Gildar to get a haircut?" Thorne inquired, his eyes still on his magazine.

Knightriss rolled her eyes. "It's time to choose who's buying for who for Christmas!" The noble knight pointed towards the castle's hallway. "Into the dining hall at once!"

Kook grinned excitedly, then eagerly followed Knightriss out of the living room. Thorne sighed, slapped the catalogue shut, and tossed it onto the coffee table. He stood up, then marched after the two.

By the time the three arrived in the dining hall, the other six Defenders were already gathered around the large table. They were busy signing their names onto small pieces of white paper. Knightriss, Kook, and Thorne quickly did the same. Once she finished doing so, Knightriss tossed her paper into her silver helmet sitting on the table. To get everyone's attention, she grabbed the helmet and and slammed it down on the dark brown wood, making Gildar jump.

"Put your papers in here," Knightriss commanded.

Skabb immediately obeyed, yelling as he performed the task. Everyone else followed through, then waited impatiently for the next step. When told to do so by their leader, the Defenders, one by one, stuck a hand into Knightriss' helmet and pulled out a slip of folded paper. The Defenders then unfolded them and looked them over.

After he read his, Kook glanced over at Shaiden, who was still scanning hers. He silently folded it back up and put it into one of the pouches on his belt.

"Gildar, who'd you get?" Skabb asked, hoping the viking wasn't buying for him.

Gildar turned to the barbarian and opened his mouth to reply.

"Defenders, you know the rules," Knightriss said quickly. "No revealing who's name you drew until Christmas morning."

A few Defenders groaned, but didn't bother to argue. Knightriss smirked, then scanned her piece of paper once more before putting it away.

"This is gonna be an interesting year," Shaiden muttered to herself, inserting her paper into one of the black cases latched onto her thigh.

And so the Christmas season began...


	2. Lighting Up the Kingdom

The Splatalot moat was indeed mysterious. No one really knew for sure what on earth made it so murky. It was once said that it was composed of old hot dog water, but that was just a rumor. What exactly lived in it was more determinable. Crocness and her relatives resided in it. Whether or not they're the only residents of the moat is another question, however.

But one thing everyone knew for sure: the moat was hecka cold. And it was even colder in the winter. That's why, on this particular day, Crocness was busy moving some of her stuff from her underwater lair to inside the castle.

This was the time of year that the moat would constantly freeze. The water monster didn't want to be trapped below the waters when that happened, so she would be living inside the castle until spring.

Each Defender had their own place inside and outside the castle. All year round, to make sure the castle was ready to be defended at all times, the Defenders would take turns spending the night in the fortress. The green Defenders spent the night in the castle more during the winter than any other season of the year. Skabb's cave could get pretty cold, so he'd be staying inside the castle more than usual. Kook's nest wasn't prone to freezing, but he preferred spending the Christmas season in the castle, especially after it was decorated.

At twelve o' clock, just as it began to snow, Crocness emerged from the depths of the murky moat waters, a small suitcase in her hands. She shivered slightly, then climbed up on top of the snow-covered Finishing Platform. She brushed a few water droplets and snow off of her, then marched inside the castle.

The water monster carried her suitcase to the hallway containing the green Defenders' rooms. She walked past Kook's, then Skabb's, then arrived at hers. She clasped the handle, turned it, pushed the door open, then entered.

Inside her dimly-lit room, there was a small, dark green-colored bed, some moss and mushrooms growing along the brick walls and tiled floor, and a built-in, heated swimming pool. After taking in her surroundings, Crocness tossed her suitcase onto a carpet of green moss. She then turned on her heels and walked out the doorway.

As Crocness was shutting the door to her room, one of her comrades walked into the hall. Crocness didn't bother to look up; she already knew who it was. She could tell just by their scent.

"G'day, Ballista," Crocness said.

"Hello, Crocness," the kilted huntress replied, crossing her arms. "Just finished moving in?"

"Just about," Crocness chimed, nodding.

Ballista looked over the half-human, half-reptile. She smirked. "You should really consider wearing a coat or something, Croc. It'd keep you warmer, and maybe make you look better."

The water monster looked up at the huntress, her eyes flashing angrily. "How would you like it if I made you look like a red-nosed-reindeer?"

Ballista ignored Crocness's threat, then unfolded her arms. "Seriously, though. I'd keep warm if I were you. You could get sick if you're not careful. You'd be the first to catch something since you're cold-blooded."

"I'll worry about myself," Crocness replied. "I don't need a coat."

"Suit yourself," Ballista said, shrugging.

Crocness looked down at her boots. She lifted one and turned it back and forth a bit. "I _do _need some new boots, though. These are getting worn out."

Ballista looked at the reptile's boots with a careful eye. Before the blonde archer could say anything, the two ladies heard a very loud shout and pounding sounds approaching them. Crocness and Ballista covered their ears just as Skabb bounded into the hallway and ran towards them.

"CROCNESS! BALLISTA!"

"SKABB!" Ballista screamed back. "Inside voice! Please!"

"We're decoarating the castle!" Skabb said continued, not as loud as before. "Are you gonna help out or what?"

"Duh, of course!" Ballista replied.

Suddenly excited, Crocness smiled and nodded.

"Then come on!" Skabb cried, gesturing towards the end of the hallway. "Out in the courtyard! Everyone's waiting!"

***

The Defenders split into three groups. Kook, Crocness, and Knightriss would be decorating the moat, Tinkor, Ballista, and Skabb would be decorating the castle and the Stockade, and Shaiden, Thorne, and Gildar would be decorating the courtyard.

After about three hours of climbing, hanging, stretching, fetching, slipping, taunting, and slight arguing had passed, the Defenders were done. The castle was completely decorated, and the warriors of the kingdom were ready to make sure everything looked perfect. Because it was part of their tradition, they viewed the moat first.

The moat was...well, actually, pretty. Crocness had installed some lights that changed colors beneath the moat's murky surface. Over both the Starting Platform and the Finishing Platform were rows of blue, light-up snowflakes. Each of the Baffling Barrels had a wreath hung on them. The Slippery Slope was wrapped with colored lights and a green garland ornamented with bright red holly berries. The Mace Roll's spikes had been replaced with ones that lit up and blinked. A row of decorative, lighted candy canes stretched across the edge of the top of the Beastly Battle Axes. Both the Splatzooka and the Water Cannon were wrapped with colored lights. The Rope Bridge of Disaster was decorated with green garlands, and the Perilous Pole vault was wrapped with a red and white garland and topped with a red bow.

The Defenders commented how great the moat looked, then walked over to the Stockade. While they made their way over there, they observed the castle. It was completely outlined with red, green, orange, blue, pink, purple, and white lights, and some of them twinkled.

The Stockade gleamed with thousands of mini white lights. They covered the entire top of the Stockade like a spider's web. Lighted, blue icicles surrounded the edges of the Pardoning Platform. Green garlands with more mini white lights fell down in front of the purple railings. After the Defenders finished marveling over the Stockade, they headed towards the courtyard.

The courtyard looked like a winter wonderland. Snow was everywhere, and the two siblings and the viking had covered the walls with blue lights. The Titanic Teeter Totters were wrapped with light blue garlands. The Barrier of All Barriers had a layer of glassy ice frozen around it. The Bouncy Bouys were wrapped with blinking blue lights. The murky pools and the Water Wall had been frozen into crystal-clear sheets of ice. Up at the top of the Water Wall, the crown was illuminated with a circle of ice blue lights.

"Well done, Defenders!" Knightriss cried, clapping. "The castle looks wonderful!"

As the rest of the Defenders agreed, the leader rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Now all we need is a tree..."


	3. Hunting for Evergreen

Shaiden grunted as she carried five heavy boxs up the basement's stairs. As she brought them into the hallway, she ran into Tinkor, who gladly took two of the parcels from her hands. The duo then walked into the castle's living room and set them down about five feet from the fireplace. Crocness and Knightriss were moving the room's furniture around, and Kook was lighting a fire. Ballista was on a couch, busy filing her nails.

The ninja took the first box from the stack. After opening it, she peered inside.

"Here are the lights," she announced, pulling out a long green strand of mini colored lights.

Tinkor took the strand in his hands and inspected them, then uttered something with approval as he put the strand back. He took another box and opened it up.

"Stockings!" he announced, pulling out his and Kook's.

"Give them to me, dear boy," Knightriss ordered in a kind tone.

Tinkor nodded and happily handed the knight the parcel.

"Crocness, help me hang these up, my dear," Knightriss commanded, marching to the fireplace.

Kookaburra rubbed his hands together once the fire had been lit. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then stepped back as Crocness and Knightriss began hanging up the stockings. The bird watched them for a brief moment, then looked over at the boxes of Christmas decorations. As he stared at their contents, he suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, I think I've got some stuffed birds back at me nest!" Kook declared. "I'll go get 'em!"

Before anyone could blink, Kook hopped over an armchair and "flew" out of the living room. A few seconds later, the Defenders heard the castle's heavy front doors open, then shut shortly afterwards.

"Weirdo," Ballista muttered, looking back at her nails.

Shaiden smirked at her, then continued rummaging through the boxes with Tinkor. She found the ornaments, then set them besides the box with the lights. Just then, she heard her brother enter the room. Though she didn't look over at him, the leader of the Defenders did.

"Master Thorne, my boy, are you ready to get the tree?" Knigthtriss inquired, hanging a stocking on the mantel.

Thorne nodded. "I just need to get Ballista." He turned to the kilted huntress. "You comin' or what?"

Ballista looked at the alchemist. "Yeah, I'm coming. Where's Gildar and Skabb?"

Thorne's face seemed to darken a little bit. "They're already out there. Now come on, we need to get going!"

Ballista put her file away, gathered her Splatbow into her hands, then followed the alchemist out into the hall.

"Pick out a big one!" Tinkor called, smiling.

"We will!" the huntress cried, strapping her Splatbow onto her back.

Thorne and Ballista walked out of the castle and met up with the viking and barbarian outside. Then they all set out for the forest filled with evergreen pines.

Before they even reached the forest filled with maples, Skabb purposely bumped against Gildar. Gildar bumped back, with much more force. Skabb growled, then smacked him, which knocked the viking into Thorne.

"Watch it!" Thorne snarled, wrapping his hand around the handle of his Mulching Mace.

Ballista turned around. "Easy, boys," she said, glaring at them.

Thorne growled at the barbarian and viking, then let go of his mace's handle. Skabb and Gildar shot each other angry looks, then turned away from one another. Ballista rolled her eyes and shook her head. The three had been mad at each other all day, and for extremely ridiculous reasons. At first, all the fighting and arguing was humorous and entertaining, but now it was just downright annoying.

It all started at breakfast. Gildar had been busy gazing at himself in his red mirror. Thorne, who was exhausted that morning and, thus, in a worse mood then usual, had whipped the viking's mirror out of his hand, which resulted in accidentally spilling Skabb's latte with it. The spilled latte then got all over Gildar's precious mirror, which made the viking furious.

Later that day, an angry Skabb had threw a snowball at Thorne, but accidentally hit Gildar, instead. After Gildar insulted the barbarian, all three Defenders fought verbally with each other, then began tossing snowballs and even some goo grenades at one another. They would probably still be doing it at this moment if Crocness hadn't broken them up and reminded them about the tree.

Eventually, the four had walked into an area covered with all sorts of pine trees, and began searching for the perfect tree. They're search was unsuccessful, however. The ones they viewed were too small, too crooked, or even too big. Some were excessively sappy, or the branches didn't cover the trunk enough.

Tension had increased dramatically by the time they viewed the hundredth tree. It ended up being that Ballista was the only one actually looking for a tree while the males verbally fought with each other.

"Do me a favor and cut off that stupid mohawk!" Gildar roared.

Thorne snarled. "Why don't _you_ just cut off your overgrown hair, pretty boy?"

Gildar's eyes flashed angrily. "My hair is perfect!"

"You hair makes you look like a girl!" Skabb shouted.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" the viking declared sharply, turning onto Skabb. "You look like an idiot!"

Ballista groaned. "Why must I be stuck with these three morons?" she muttered under her breath.

"Gildar, when we get back to the castle, I'm gonna give you a haircut like mine!" Thorne announced darkly.

The viking seethed at the alchemist. "You make my hair look as bad as yours and I'll-"

"Oh, thanks for all the help, guys!" Ballista cried sarcastically, turning around. "Seriously, do I have to do everything myself around here? Come on, it's getting late, we better hurry up!"

Gildar glanced at the huntress, shook his fist at Thorne and Skabb, then reluctantly began to walk away. A moment later, a ball of cold, wet slush hit the viking in the back of the head. Enraged, he whirled around and eyed the laughing barbarian and alchemist.

"WHO THREW THAT?!"

Thorne cackled. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I mess up your hair?"

The viking violently shook, bent over, pulled snow into his hands, formed a ball, then hurled it at the alchemist. Thorne cried out with anger, and Gildar laughed. Suddenly, Skabb chucked one at the viking. He laughed, then challenged the viking with a "come get me" hand gesture before running away. In a blind rage, Gildar immediately chased after Skabb.

"Oy, come back 'ere and show me what else you've got!" Thorne yelled, running after the viking.

"You guys!" Ballista shouted.

The three ignored the huntress and kept running after each other. Ballista angrily groaned, then dashed after her fellow Defenders. She followed them as they twisted and turned throughout the pine trees. No one really knew where they were going.

The four ran for about five minutes. Ballista and Thorne were well behind when Gildar had lost track of Skabb. The viking came to a small clearing and paused. He arched over and wrapped his right hand into a fist. Breathing like an angry bull, he looked around cautiously for his comrade.

A snowball suddenly hit the side of Gildar's head. He screamed angrily and whirled around to see Skabb laughing at him.

"SKABB RULES!" he cried, fist-pumping for himself.

Gildar ran towards the barbarian, fully intent on strangling him. Just as Gildar was about leap onto Skabb, Ballista jumped between the two and hammered both their chests with her fists.

"ENOUGH!" she ordered as the two recoiled in pain.

Gildar and Skabb groaned and rubbed their stinging chests. Thorne soon appeared next to the huntress, and he too was rubbing his chest.

"Come on, you guys, we still need to get the tree," Ballista said, her tone low with anger.

The viking sighed, then nodded. "You're right."

Once his chest had stopped aching, Skabb lowered his hand to his side and looked around. "Where are we?"

Ballista looked through and up at the tall pine trees touching the dark, foggy sky. She shrugged. "I can't tell."

"We should probably head back" Gildar suggested. "We can get back by following our tracks."

"Uh, yeah, only one problem," Thorne retorted. "They disappeared! The snow and the wind erased them!"

Everyone looked behind them. Thorne was right; it had began snowing, and the wind had picked up and had covered their tracks with the new snow. As a result, the Defenders had no idea where they came from, or which way to go.

A long pause.

"Which means...we're lost," Ballista announced solemnly.


	4. Still Hunting for Evergreen

"Since when did Defenders get lost?!" Gildar yelled.

"Nevermind that!" Skabb shouted. "How are we gonna get back to the castle?!"

"We're lost, you idiot!" Thorne retorted. "We _can't _get back to the castle!"

Gildar angrily turned on Skabb. "Why did you have to be stupid and run off to the middle of nowhere?"

Skabb growled. "Hey, you guys followed me!"

Just like before, the three continued arguing and fighting all over again. Tempers flared as they exchanged heated words and jabbed each other in the chest a few times.

Ballista watched them in disbelief as they fought with each other. Suddenly, she felt hot frustration from her chest seep deep through her strong arms. She couldn't take it anymore. The whole thing had gone way too far. She growled under her breath like a ferocious lioness, then lifted the Splatbow from her back. She took aim, then fired three splatballs at her comrades, immediately grabbing their attention.

"ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

The male Defenders, instantly silenced, kept their eyes locked on the angered huntress's face. She glared scornfully at each of them, then continued.

"This whole thing is ridiculous! You three have been acting like immature Attackers all day, and I'm sick of it! We're Defenders! Essentially, we're a family! Yes, we have our fights, but this has gone on far enough! We wouldn't have gotten into this mess if you idiots hadn't been fighting the whole time! NOW SHUT IT!"

Skabb, Thorne, and Gildar stared at the fierce huntress. Neither of them said anything. Then, gradually, they moved their gazes to each others' faces. They slowly realized that Ballista was right. They looked away from each other as feelings of shame began to build up inside of them.

Awkward silence filled the atmosphere.

"I'll...I'll just...make a fire..." Gildar suggested quietly, beginning to walk away.

"You go do that," Thorne said in a low tone, looking down at the ground.

No one spoke for awhile after that. Gildar kept his word and had gotten a small fire burning. Skabb and Thorne gathered a couple logs and set them around the campfire. Afterwards, Ballista sat down on a log and began to warm her hands. Gildar sat close to her on a seperate log, and Thorne and Skabb sat across from them. As the fire flickered, the males would frequently glance up and give each other shameful looks that read "I'm sorry."

A long moment passed.

The kilted huntress shivered. "Wish we had something to eat," she uttered, breaking the silence. "I'm hungry."

Skabb looked up at Ballista from the fire. He held up his finger and turned around, then began digging through his stuff. After a moment, he turned back around.

"I brought marshmallows," the barbarian announced, revealing a bag of the said small white treats. He paused. "Skabb will share."

The alchemist looked at him, then nodded. "I'll get some sticks," he said, standing up.

As Thorne walked off, Skabb began handing out the marshmallows. He handed four to Ballista, then tossed one into his mouth, then approached the viking. Gildar kept his face away from the barbarian, still feeling a little sting of shame. Skabb watched him for a moment, then held out a marshmallow to him in a friendly manner. Gildar eventually moved his gaze to the treat, then looked at Skabb, then back at the treat. He smiled a little and took it.

"Thanks."

Skabb nodded, then handed him three more. By that time, Thorne had returned with four long, thin sticks and began handing those out. After Skabb handed him a few marshmallows, they both sat down and began to roast them.

Roasting marshmallows around the campfire seemed to fix everything. What had started out as a few mutters quickly sparked into a quiet conversation. Before long, the four were openly talking to each other, then soon even joking around and laughing.

Ballista took a moment to watch the three males interact with each other. Skabb playfully nudged Thorne, and the alchemist lightheartedly smacked him back. Gildar laughed, and then asked Skabb for another marshmallow. Ballista smiled and shook her head, happy that the three had made up. Whatever bonds of friendship that had been broken earlier that day were quickly mended.

Let that be a lesson to you: marshmallows fix everything.

"This is fun," Skabb commented, removing his golden marshmallow from his stick.

"Yeah, we should do this more often," Ballista agreed.  
_  
_Thorne nodded. "But we still didn't get a tree," he pointed out, almost sighing.

The Defenders glanced at each other and sadly agreed. The viking lowered his head, then looked over to his right. He scanned the area that had been flooded with moonlight. Suddenly, his eyes brightened.

"Hey, guys," he said, standing up. "Look at that."

Everyone looked in the viking's direction as he walked away. Ballista stood up.

"Where are you going?" she inquired.

"I'll show you!" Gildar called back, quickening his pace.

The Defenders looked at each other. Ballista dropped her stick and ran after the viking. Thorne did the same, and Skabb did so as soon as he finished swallowing his roasted marshmallow. When the three reached Gildar, they found that he was standing in front of a large pine tree. He glanced at them, then gestured at the evergreen.

"What do you guys think of this one?" he asked. "Isn't this a real beauty?"

Ballista, Thorne, and Skabb circled the tree. Gildar was right: it _was_ a real beauty. The pine tree was the perfect size for their living room; it was straight; the top wasn't at all crooked; the needles were a nice dark green color; the trunk wasn't sappy; and the pine needles covered the trunk completely.

"Yeah, I like it," Ballista agreed, stepping back a few paces from the evergreen.

Thorne joined her. "It's perfect."

Gildar stood behind Ballista and Thorne, then grasped their shoulders and pulled them each closer to him.

"Almost as perfect as me."

Thorne looked at the viking irritantly, then shook Gildar's hand off of him. Ballista loosened herself from Gildar's grip, then walked closer to the tree.

"So, we're gonna take this one?" she asked.

Skabb shouted approvingly from besides the tree. Gildar nodded.

"Yeah, let's cut 'er down," Thorne said, circling the tree once more.

"Alright, now how do we make sure all the forest pests are out of it?" Ballista inquired.

"I've got it," Skabb announced.

The barbarian walked in front of the trunk and looked up into the branches. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, then let out a long and loud scream. All the animals living in it instantly ran away or flew away for their lives.

"Good job, Skabb," Gildar complimented. The viking pulled out an axe from behind his back. "Now let me chop this baby down!"

Gildar stood at the base of the tree's trunk, then hacked away. It wasn't long until the tree started to shake. After a little bit longer, it began to tilt, then came crashing down.

"TIMBER!" Skabb screamed, running back about twenty paces.

The tree landed on the ground with a loud "crash." The air was instantly filled with a fresh, crisp pine scent. The Defenders "woo-hooed," and Gildar repositioned the axe on his back.

"Gildar, you magnificent viking, you've really done it again," he said, primarily to himself.

"Okay, we've got the tree, but how are we gonna get it back to the castle?" Thorne asked. "We don't know which way to go."

"I'll check the GPS on my phone," Ballista stated casually, pulling out her portable communication device.

The male Defenders stared at the huntress as she typed away. Skabb and Gildar's jaws had dropped with disbelief. Thorne's left eye twitched.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?!" he hissed.

"I wanted you dim wits to quit fighting, first," the huntress replied without looking up. "I didn't want to deal with all the screaming and arguing on the way back."

Gildar shrugged and muttered something like "good point" to Skabb. A minute later, the blonde archer looked up from her phone.

"Okay, the castle's that way," she announced, pointing westwards.

"LET'S GO!" Skabb yelled, running towards the tree to grab it.

Less than a minute later, the four Defenders had the tree on their backs and were carrying it back to the castle. Ballista lead the way with her phone in one hand and the tip of the tree in the other. Thorne was a foot or so behind her, and behind him was Skabb, and at the very back was Gildar. Gildar held the base of the truck in one hand, and had his mirror in the other, staring at his reflection admiringly.

_You know, with all the time we wasted arguing, I could have been staring at my handsome reflection, _he thought to himself.

***

Back at the castle, Shaiden was pacing back and forth in the living room. She was getting a little worried; the four Defenders should have been back an hour ago.

"Think they're alright?" she asked, looking over at her leader.

Knightriss shrugged.

"Maybe they got lost," Kook said, surveying his bird collection carefully.

Shaiden shook her head. "Impossible. Ballista's got a GPS on her phone."

"Maybe she fell into a lake, then," Kook suggested, picking up the dove from his box.

The bird looked over the snow white-colored bird, then set it on the coffee table along with the others. He rubbed his eyes, then looked up to see Knightriss and Shaiden glaring at him. He cocked his head.

"What?"

Shaiden rolled her eyes and continued pacing. Knightriss turned back to the fire, then tossed in another log. Crocness and Tinkor had busied themselves by putting hooks on all the ornaments they planned to hang on the tree.

Suddenly, the five Defenders heard a large thump on the large wooden doors of the castle, then a muffled shout that sounded like Ballista yelling "Ow!" then "Wait until I open the doors, you morons!"

Shaiden darted out of the living room. She reached the castle's front doors just as Ballista had gotten them open. The ninja placed her hands on her hips.

"What took you guys so long? It's almost eight!"

Ballista groaned as she led her comrades inside. "We're here now, does it matter?"

Kook appeared next to Shaiden, then scanned the tree on the Defenders' backs. He grinned. "That's a pretty one!"

"Thank you," Gildar said, still looking at his mirror.

Shaiden pretended to gag, then helped her fellow Defenders get the tree into the living room. Once it was in, Tinkor and Crocness set it up in a Chrsitmas tree stand. Afterwards, the two stepped back and viewed it carefully with everyone else.

"It's perfect!" Crocness cried, smiling.

Knightriss grabbed a strand of lights. "Alright, Defenders, let's get started!"

For the rest of the night, the Defenders decorated the tree with mini colored lights, silver and gold garlands, sparkling ornaments of all shapes and sizes (including skulls and ones that looked like weapons), Kook's decorative birds, and a bright, ice blue star. It was quite a sight to see once they were done.

Gildar, Thorne, and Skabb were well-behaved the whole time. They didn't fight with each other for the rest of the evening. Oh, sure, they'll still fight in the future, but never again as bad as they did when they hunted for evergreen.

**...And _wow, _that sounded cliche, didn't it?**

**Alright, uh, feel free to review! I really enjoy reading your comments! Even if it's mostly constructive criticism. I would really like to know what you guys think.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Barbarian VS The Cold

It was one of those winter days when it didn't snow, but it rained. Rain pelted everything in the Kingdom of Splatalot. It turned the already fallen snow into slush, and thawed the frozen waters a little bit.

The night before that rainy morning, the leader of the Defenders, Knightriss, had come down with a bad cold. It was worse than your average cold. Not only did she have the runny nose, sore throat, and tendency to cough and sneeze every minute, she also had the inability to taste anything and was completely out of energy. She could barely move. She couldn't even get out of bed.

The other eight Defenders stayed away from her to avoid getting sick. Well, all but one. Skabb, ever so loyal to Knightriss, made it his mission to help her feel better. So, that rainy morning, as soon as he knew that the knight awoke, Skabb dashed into Knightriss's room.

"SKABB WILL HELP YOU FEEL BETTER!" he announced determinedly.

Knightriss felt her head ache. She groaned, rubbed her head, then coughed.

"That's very kind of you, Master Skabb, but I don't-"

"You sound horrible!" Skabb stated, concerned. He approached her and brought out a package of cherry-flavored cough drops. He dipped his hand into the sea of wrapped medicines. "Take one of these!" he ordered, handing one out to her.

Knightriss tried to protest, but Skabb thrust one into her hand, anyways. The knight stared at him, feeling a little annoyed. Skabb stared back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said suddenly, taking the drop back. He took the wrapper off of it, then handed it back to her. "Here you go."

Knightriss rolled her eyes and sighed, then finally put it into her mouth. She sucked on it for about a minute before crunching it up into bits, then swallowing.

"Feel better yet?" Skabb asked.

Knightriss coughed a few times. "No."

Skabb felt his spirits sink a little. He looked around the room. The barbarian located a chair, then pulled it next to the knight's bed. He sat down in it and stared at his leader, trying to think of other ways to help her feel better. He glanced at the box of tissues sitting on the nightstand, then grabbed it.

"Here you go," he said, handing the box to the knight.

Knightriss sighed as she took it. "Skabb, my boy-" The knight sneezed. "I'm tired; I just need-"

The barbarian's face lit up. "You need something to eat!" Skabb stood up. "I'll get you some hot chicken noodle soup! And...and hot chocolate! And orange juice!"

Knightriss was about to protest, but then changed her mind when she realized that Skabb would leave her alone for a few minutes if he did so. She nodded, albeit weakly.

"Yes, Skabb, please go do that."

The barbarian quickly returned the nod, then bounded out of the room. Knightriss sighed with relief, then sneezed again.

Meanwhile, Crocness and Gildar were busy making hot chocolate for themselves. Gildar was mixing the ground-up chocolate with the heated water, and the half-human, half-reptile was covering the edge of her mug with caramel.

"You sure you don't want caramel with yours?" she asked, looking over at the viking.

"I'm sure," Gildar replied, bringing the finished formula over to his fellow Defender. "I'm trying to cut back on my sugar intake."

The viking poured the chocolatey mixture into both his and Crocness's mugs, then put the glass measuring cup holding it back on the counter. It was then that Skabb entered.

"You guys, I need-"

Suddenly, Gildar leapt aside about three feet. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Skabb took a step back in surprise. The half-human, half-reptile gave the viking a look.

"Whoa, Gildar, calm down!" she said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't get sick!" he insisted. "Imagine how awful I'd look!"

Crocness rolled her eyes, then took a sip of her hot drink. Skabb opened his mouth to make fun of Gildar, but then decided against it and turned to Crocness.

"Crocness, can you help me make some breakfast for Knightriss? I need chicken noodle soup, orange juice, and hot chocolate."

Crocness took a sip of her drink, then nodded. "Alright," she said, putting her mug down. "I'll make more hot chocolate." The water monster looked besides her at the wary viking. "Gildar, make yourself useful and get the orange juice."

Gildar gave Crocness a confused look. "Isn't just handsomely existing useful?"

The viking quickly walked to the fridge when Crocness arched her arm back to smack him. Skabb smirked, then worked on heating up some chicken noodle soup. After she finished making the hot chocolate, Crocness brought out a metal tray to put everything on. Once everything was done, the three wariors piled a bowl of soup, a spork, orange juice, and hot chocolate onto the tray.

"Thanks, guys," Skabb said, taking the tray into his hands.

Crocness nodded, and Gildar grabbed his red mug from the counter.

"Just make sure she stays away from me until she's better," he said, moving his mug towards his mouth.

Crocness rolled her eyes, and Skabb watched as Gildar took a sip of his drink. He smirked mischievously.

"Gildar, Knightriss drank from that last night."

Gildar choked and sprayed the hot chocolate from his mouth. Skabb burst out laughing, and Crocness smiled wide. The viking ran to the sink and turned the faucet on. Once the viking finished washing his mouth out with water, he realized that Skabb was only kidding, and angrily turned to the two amused Defenders.

"That wasn't funny!" Gildar roared.

Skabb laughed again, then turned on his heels and left the kitchen.

Back in her room, the weakened leader of the Defenders was almost asleep. She was just about to start dreaming abot defending the castle when-

"KNIGHTRISS!"

The knight's eyes shot wide open as Skabb marched into the room. She groaned, rubbed her eyes, then sat up.

"I got you breakfast!" Skabb announced joyfully, roughly placing the tray on top of Knightriss's bedstand. "Eat! Like a starving brontosaurus!"

Knightriss's patience was wearing thin, but she managed to keep her voice calm and steady. "Skabb, my good chap, I'm not hungry."

Skabb took the tray and thrust it out to his leader. "It'll help you feel better!"

Knightriss defiantly crossed her arms. Skabb gave her an earnest look.

"Just try!" he insisted, holding the tray out even more.

The leader of the Defenders sighed, then took the tray in her hands. She set it on her lap and glanced up at Skabb, who was staring intently at her. Knightriss sighed again, then reluctantly began to eat.

To Knightriss's surprise, she was actually a little hungry. Good thing her cold didn't affect her stomach in any way. Skabb watched her carefully as she ate. She had finished about half the soup, one third of the hot chocolate, and almost all of the orange juice when she pushed the tray away. Skabb took it as the sign that she was done.

"Feel any better?" he asked hopefully.

Knightriss paused to think. "Actually...yes, I do. A little bit."

Skabb beamed, then asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Knightriss shook her head. "No. But I would like to rest, my dear boy."

Skabb cocked his head. "Are you sure?"

Knightriss nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Seeing that he had done all he could for his leader, Skabb submitted to Knightriss's request by taking the tray into his hands and getting ready to leave.

"If you need anything else, Skabb will happily provide assistance!" he stated.

The knight managed a grateful smile. "Thank you, Skabb."

Skabb bid Knightriss farewell, then left the room. Knightriss watched him until he disappeared. Once he was gone, she laid back on her bed and began to peacefully drift off to sleep.

***

The next morning, Thorne and Crocness were seated at the dining hall's table, eating breakfast. Kook, Gildar, Shaiden, Ballista, and Tinkor hadn't arrived yet, Knightriss was still in her room, and Skabb was in the kitchen.

Crocness and Thorne were both quiet that morning. Neither of them had much to say. The only sounds that came from the two were crunching or sipping.

Just as Crocness finished feeding Albert a piece of sausage, Skabb appeared from the kitchen. The two Defenders looked up at the barbarian as he began making his way to the dining hall's doors.

"How's Knightriss?" Crocness inquired. "Is she doing any better, today?"

Skabb shrugged as he stopped by the table. "I haven't seen her yet. I'm about to find out."

Suddenly, the dining hall's doors opened wide. Everyone turned. Standing in the entryway was the noble leader of the Defenders, looking as strong as ever.

"Good morning, Defenders!" she said in her usual confident tone.

The barbarian's spirits shot up. He set the breakfast tray down on the table. "Knightriss, how are you feeling?"

The knight smiled and walked over to him. "Skabb, my dear boy, I feel just like myself again!"

Crocness grinned. "That's awesome, Knightriss!"

Thorne agreed by taking another sip of his tea.

Knightriss put her hand on the barbarian's shoulder and beamed at him. "I'm in debt to you, my dear boy. Thank you for your fine assistance, Master Skabb!"

The barbarian smiled back. "Always happy to help, Knightriss!" he replied, giving the knight a thumbs-up.

Thorne took another sip of his English breakfast tea, then looked over at Skabb. He narrowed one eye. "But colds like that often last for more than a few days. Knightriss was only sick for a day and a half, yet she's completely better. What exactly _did_ you do?"

Skabb grinned smugly. "That's simple! All colds are afraid of Skabb! AAAAGGHH!"


	6. Here We Come A-Caroling

**Okay, so, the rules for the site state that _Copying from a previously published work (including musical lyrics) not in the public domain_ is not allowed. For this story, I'm using Silent Night, which is in the public domain, so I think I'm good. It was written in the 1800s. And Here We Come A-Caroling was also written in the 1800s, so I think that's in the public domain as well.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Night, by the way. Or Here We Come A-Caroling. Shocker.**

It was a cold and snowy night in the Kingdom of Splatalot. Icicles began forming along the castle's strong walls as the snow fell and the wind blew. The moat's surface and even the slime on the Slippery Slope and the Impossible Incline had turned to ice. It was midnight, so all the Defenders were sleeping peacefully either inside the warm castle or back at their own place.

Well...almost all of them.

Shaiden was in the castle, lying wide awake on her bed. She was currently studying the ceiling. The ninja was depressed; for whatever reason, she just wasn't getting into the Christmas spirit. She didn't understand why; everything seemed as perfect as it could be. The castle was decorated beautifully, all her friends were excited and cheery, and the weather was perfect for the winter season. But to Shaiden, it still didn't feel like it was Christmas, and that made her frustrated. Everyone else was getting into the Christmas spirit but her.

The ninja felt too troubled to sleep. She sighed to herself, then swung her feet over the side of her bed. She pulled on her knee-high ninja boots, then stood up. Turning, she grabbed her belt and the case of her Splatana, then slipped the weapon over her blue jumpsuit. (Shaiden had one jumpsuit to wear during the day and one at night. Ninjas always had to be prepared.) After adjusting the belt around her waist, Shaiden stealthily exited her room, silently shut the door behind her, then prowled towards the dining hall.

Inside the dining hall, Shaiden decided to make herself a cup of hot chocolate. After doing so and covering its surface with some whipped cream and mini marshmellows, she settled down at the table and began drinking it.

Shaiden removed the mug from her lips and inspected it. Even her drink tasted like it was missing that special element Christmas brought to it. Shaiden sighed, then took another sip.

Once the ninja had drank the entire beverage, she felt the urge to go outside. Shaiden silently cleaned her mug and put it away so no one would know she had been in the kitchen, then made her way to the castle's entrance. As the ninja pushed the castle's large, wooden doors open, she was met with an icy gust of wind that chilled her bones. She shivered a little, but stepped outside anyways.

Shaiden strolled slowly along the edge of the moat. Her breath swirled in the dark night air. The ninja looked up at the colored lights Skabb, Ballista, and Tinkor put up earlier that week. The gleaming lights were pretty, but they didn't help the blue ninja with her pestering issue. Shaiden sighed heavily and dejectedly looked down at the snow-covered ground.

_What's missing?_

Suddenly, the ninja heard something being carried by the wind. She turned her head towards the Stockade. It sounded like the faint sounds were coming from there. Wondering what it was, she decided to investigate. The ninja silently ran towards the Stockade. She kept in the shadows, careful not to step into any light-flooded areas. She made it to the outside of the Stockade, skillfully and soundlessly leapt up the building's purple boards, then landed on top of one of its orange roofs.

The ninja looked down into the Stockade. To her surprise, she saw that she wasn't the only Defender awake. Kookaburra was down there, leaning over the Stockade's purple railing and looking into the courtyard. He was humming a tune and tapping his boot to a slow rhythm.

_What's he doing up?_ Shaiden wondered. _It doesn't look like he's trying to annoy our neighbors._

(The Defenders would sometimes stand on the Pardoning Platform and sing loudly to irritate castle neighbors.)

The ninja watched Kook just stand there, humming quietly to himself. The wind carried his tune all around the castle, albeit very quietly. Shaiden glanced around at the Stockade, then realized that the mini white lights Tinkor and Skabb had put up were turned off. The blue icicles were still shining, though.

_Hmm...perhaps the wind did something..._

Shaiden looked back down at the green-haired bird, who was still oblivious to her presence. He had stopped humming and tapping, but was still looking out at the winter-themed courtyard. Kookaburra shivered, then suddenly lifted his head up towards the night sky. After gazing at the twinkling stars for a bit, he continued tapping his boot to the same slow rhythm. The bird took a deep breath, then began to sing.

_"Silent night, Holy night. _

_All is calm, All is bright._

_Round yon virgin mother and child._

_Holy infant so tender and mild._

_Sleep in heavenly peace,_

_Sleep in heavenly peace."_

Kook had often said that his mother sang that song to him every Christmas Eve when he was just a little fledgling. Though Shaiden probably wouldn't admit it to anyone, she thought that Kookaburra had a lovely voice. He was a musically gifted bird, no doubt. The ninja, having been grasped by Kook's wonderful voice, decided to stay for awhile longer. She silently sat herself down, rested her chin on her hand, and listened as the bird continued.

_"Silent night, Holy night._

_Shepherds quake at the sight._

_Glories stream from heaven afar._

_Heavenly hosts sing Al-le-lu-ia._

_Christ the Savior is born,_

_Christ the Savior is born."_

Shaiden found herself slowly smiling. Despite the cold night temperature and freezing wind, she was perfectly comfortable. The ninja felt as if the icy depression in her soul was being melted away with the warm words of the song.

_"Silent night, Holy night._

_Son of God, Love's pure light._

_Radiant beams from Thy holy face,_

_With the dawn of redeeming grace._

_Jesus Lord at thy birth,_

_Jesus Lord at thy birth."_

And suddenly, to Shaiden, as the final words of the song sank in, and the message of the carol was made clear, it finally felt like Christmas.

Kookaburra had ceased singing. After a brief pause, he rubbed his gloved hands together, breathed on them, then shivered. He glanced back at the courtyard, then slowly turned and began walking across the Pardoning Platform, completely unaware that the ninja had been listening to him the whole time.

Shaiden was still on top of the roof long after Kook was gone. She felt so good, so warm, so content. She didn't mind if she had to stay on the roof the entire night. (Not that she would, though.) She was happy that she finally found the Christmas spirit.

As she sat there, Shaiden found herself looking down at the Froth Broth-Er. While she stared at it, her mind wandered to the time that Kook tried to impress her with his dancing. She smirked as she watched the whole scene replay itself.

At the time, Shaiden had thought that Kook's actions were more ridiculous than impressive, and he had been mocked by both her and Ballista for his effort. But now, as she brooded upon it, she thought about it a little differently. It _was_ pretty cool that he liked her, and had attempted to let her know.

_I guess that was kinda sweet, _she thought, sort of smiling.

Nevertheless, though, she didn't really feel the same way. She wasn't really interested in getting involved in a romantic relationship. But who knows; maybe she'll change her mind. The Christmas season_ is _still young_. _And the season _is _known for those kinds of changes to take effect.

Who knows?

**A/N: Yeah, this was probably a bit out of character on my part. ****But still, I thought it'd be good to remind us why we even celebrate Christmas. Christmas is all about Jesus Christ's birth, believe it or not. Just try to keep that in mind this holiday season.**

**If you guys don't mind, could you tell me what kinds of Splatalot stories you'd like to see? I need some help thinking of new material.**

**Have a good night!**


	7. Who Needs Santa When You Have Defenders?

Seven of the nine of the dynamic Defenders had left the castle to do some Christmas shopping at the mall. The two that didn't were Tinkor and Knightriss. Knightriss had ordered her gifts online, and Tinkor was inventing his.

The seven that went to the mall had all left in diffrent groups. Thorne and Shaiden left by themselves, Crocness and Gildar left together, and Skabb left with Kook and Ballista. But neither group knew that there were the other Defenders at the mall, too.

Ballista had already done her Christmas shopping earlier in the week, but she still wanted to go to the mall with the others, anyways. And why wouldn't she? The mall was especially festive at this time of year. There was a huge Christmas tree gleaming with sparkling ornaments of all colors in the center of the building. Christmas music rang from radios installed in the ceilings, and the fresh aroma of cinnamon rolls, bread, and other sorts of baked goods scented the air.

Gildar and Crocness were walking through the crowded mall together. Gildar was staring into his mirror as he marched along, and Crocness was eyeing him curiously, wondering how he was unable to crash into anything with his eyes glued onto his reflection.

"You're not buying for yourself again this year, are you?" Crocness inquired after a moment, narrowing one of her eyes.

The viking shook his head. "No, this time it's for-"

Gildar abruptly cut himself off, then momentarily put his mirror down. He slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his piece of white paper, then showed it to Crocness.

"Ah, okay," she murmured after scanning the name written on it.

The Defenders would sometimes tell each other who they were buying for, as long as Knightriss wasn't around to yell at them otherwise. And, actually, Knightriss didn't really care. She only cut Gildar off that one day because he was just about ready to announce who he was getting something for to everyone. As long as the person they were buying for didn't figure out who was getting something for them, it was okay.

"Here we are," Crocness announced, showing the viking the store in front of them.

Gildar observed the store for a minute, then turned to his companion. "Are you coming in?"

The half-human, half-reptile shook her head. "No, I still need to get a few things, myself."

"Alright, then. So, I guess I'll see you later?"

Crocness nodded. "You will."

Gildar flipped his hair and bid the water monster farewell. Afterwards, Crocness turned an walked away, and Gildar entered the the store filled with all sorts of shiny items.

Crocness walked through the mall until she located the store she was looking for. When she reached it, she looked up at its lighted red letters: Video Game Center. The half-human, half-reptile nodded, then pushed open its glass doors. When she entered the store, a few people looked at her, but no one said anything. Crocness didn't mind all the rude stares, however. She was proud of looking scary, and quite enjoyed freaking people out.

Maybe a little too much.

Crocness glanced around at the game-loaded shelves and bright television screens. After adjusting to her surroundings, she walked up to the counter. Behind it was a young cashier. He was currently giving another customer his change. Crocness judged him to be about seventeen years old.

As soon as that customer left, the young cashier turned towards the half-human, half-reptile.

"Welcome to-AAHH!"

"G'day," Crocness said, smirking.

"...G'day," he replied quietly.

The water monster read the cashier's name tag. "Fred? That's your name, is it?"

Fred wiped his forehead. "Yeah..."

Crocness nodded, then got right down to business. "Fred, do you sell Inventor's Duty and the sequel here?"

Fred quickly nodded, then pointed behind Crocness.

"O-On that shelf right there," he replied rapidly.

Crocness smirked again, subtly showing some of her teeth. "Thank you."

Fred swallowed, then nodded.

The water monster turned around and began to search the shelf. She made sure to look back at Fred a couple times just to freak him out. After about a couple minutes, Crocness found both games she was looking for, then brought them back to the front counter. Crocness paid for the games, and Fred quietly put them in a plastic bag and gave her back her change.

"Thank you," Crocness said, making sure to show off her sharp teeth as she smiled.

Fred turned pale, then quickly handed Crocness her bag of purchased games and receipt. "Thank you for choosing Video Game Center, come back again soon..."_  
_

Crocness flashed him another toothy smile, then turned on her heels and headed for the doors. As soon as she was gone, Fred let out a deep breath of relief, then decided to take his lunch break.

After Crocness left the store, she chose to turn left. She walked down the mall for about a minute, then, to her surprise, ran into a familiar face.

"Oh, g'day, Thorne," she greeted.

"'Ello, Crocness," Thorne greeted back, not smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping for presents," the reptile stated, as if the answer should of been obvious.

Thorne nodded.

"Where'd you go?" Crocness inquired.

"Just got out of Dungeon, Guillotine, and Beyond. What about you?"

"Video Game Center."

The alchemist nodded again.

"Anyways, do you know where the food court is?" Crocness asked. "Albert and I are famished."

"That way," Thorne replied, pointing northwest. "Can't miss it."

"Thank you." Crocness sighed. "Wish they had fresh Attacker meat 'round here."

Thorne nodded, and the two walked past each other. After Crocness found the food court, she and Albert settled for some orange chicken, chow mein, and soda.

The half-human, half-reptile fed a piece of chicken to her pet, then took a large gulp of her soda. Crocness swallowed the sweet mixture, then looked up from her meal. She blinked with surprise when she saw Kookaburra walking next to Ballista. They were busy talking, and Ballista had an amused expression on her face while Kook looked a little lost.

_Is every Defender at the mall, today? _she thought.

After watching the two for a moment longer, Crocness looked down at her pet. "What do you think they're up to, Albert?"


	8. Who Needs Santa When There's Kookaburra?

"I wanted to get Shaiden something special for Christmas," Kook explained to the huntress walking next to him. "Do you know of anything she might like?"

"Why don't you just dance for her again?" Ballista asked with a smirk.

Kook glared at her. "I'm serious," he insisted, a slight edge in his tone.

Ballista looked at him with surprise. She didn't know that "serious" was even part of Kook's vocabulary. Kookaburra momentarily moved his gaze to the side as he recalled the moment he had figured out that Shaiden had mocked him for dancing for her. He felt a slight sting of the hurt feeling he had received that day. He quickly shook it off, then turned back to the kilted huntress.

"I want to get her something that she would really like."

Ballista looked at her hand thoughtfully. "She's a ninja," she said, turning her hand over a few times. "Why don't you get her some ninja gear?"

Kook absent-mindedly touched one of the pouches on his belt. "I did, but I wanted to get her something more."

Ballista looked at her other hand. "Well..." She cringed when she noticed her skin was a little dry. "I think...I think she likes stand-up comedy."

"Really?"

The huntress nodded. "Yeah, one time in the Stockade, she told us a "funny" joke."

"What was it?"

Ballista shot the bird a look. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"Why?"

"To get a splat."

Kookaburra threw his head back and laughed out loud, which grabbed everyone in the mall's attention. Ballista stopped walking and stared at him weirdly.

"How is that funny?" she asked.

"It just is!" he cried, still laughing.

Ballista rolled her eyes. Kook took a deep breath, and the two began walking again. By that time, they were almost past the food court. Kook glanced across it, then smiled.

"Hey, there's Crocness!" he cried, pointing to his reptilian friend.

Kook waved at Crocness, who waved back. Ballista waved, then turned to her kooky friend.

"Alright, you're on your own now. I'm heading to Shower and Body Wonders. My skin's getting chapped. Then I need to go find Skabb."

Kook nodded. He prefered exploring the mall on his own, anyways. "And you're sure Shaiden likes stand-up comedy?"

The huntress nodded. "I'm sure." She tossed her head, then turned on her heels. "See ya," she said, giving the bird a quick wave as she walked away.

"Bye," Kook called.

Kookaburra walked all around the mall, observing every store and shop he passed. But none of them really grabbed his attention. To tell you the truth, he wasn't exactly sure what to do or where to go. He decided that he would just walk around until something caught his eye.

After awhile, the wearied bird stopped at a hot chocolate vendor. After teasing the vendor for a little bit, he purchased a drink. Once Kook got his hands around his cup, he tipped it towards his lips. The vendor warningly held up his hand.

"Careful, bird brain, that's-"

Too late.

"AAH!" Kook cried, jumping back. "THAT'S HOT!"

The bird stuck out his tongue a couple times in a desperate attempt to cool it off. A few passing shoppers laughed at him, but Kook was too preoccupied with his burning tongue to care. The vendor suggested that he get a drink of water from a nearby fountain to cool his tongue. Kook, holding his tongue, humbly nodded, then walked about twenty yards to a silver water fountain.

By the time he finished drinking some cold water, Kook's hot chocolate was cool enough to safely drink. Kook took another sip of his beverage, then paced away from the fountain. Not too long later, he stopped to observe an interesting store beside him. The doors were wide open, and the people inside had their eyes glued to books in their hands. Kook looked up, then figured out that the shop was called Bookworm's Corner.

Curious, Kook peered inside the bookstore. The walls were a burgundy color, and the shelves were made out of dark wood. The inside was covered with green garlands, red bows, wreaths, and some mini white lights. The music of Deck the Halls was swirling through the peaceful atmosphere.

Thinking that perhaps the store sold a joke book or something similar, Kookaburra stepped one boot inside. He looked around, then pulled in his entire self. He took another gulp of his drink, then quietly marched up to the shelves and bookcases.

Kookaburra located the "Humor" section, then browsed its shelves for about ten minutes. A book with a light blue cover caught his eye. The bird picked it up and rubbed his hand over its hard cover. Inscribed on the front of it in gold lettering was _Over 1000 Jokes For The Stand-Up Comedian._

The bird opened it up and scanned over the words written inside it. He was smiling after he had read about three jokes. A few later, he laughed out loud. There was one that made him laugh so hard that the woman at the counter hissed at him to shut up. Kook quickly pulled himself together, then shut the book. He turned it over a couple times in his hands.

Shaiden would probably like it, but it still didn't feel right. Kook wanted to give the ninja something that showed how much he liked her. A joke book kinda...well, didn't really point that out too well. But after he thought about it a little more, Kook decided to buy it anyways, then later try to figure out how he could make it more special.

As the bird walked out of the store, he pondered upon how he could make the gifts he had bought for the ninja more meaningful. Kookaburra was so lost in thought that he didn't really notice where he was going. When he turned a corner, he crashed into someone. And to his horror, that someone was the blue ninja.

Kookaburra panicked, then quickly hid the book behind his back as Shaiden growled and turned around, clenching her fist.

"Watch it, or I'll-" Shaiden lowered her fist. "Oh..."

"Hey, Shaiden," Kookaburra greeted with a nervous half smile.

The ninja irritantly crossed her arms. "Next time, Kook, please watch where you're going."

"Sorry," Kook apologized with another half smile.

Shaiden sighed, then said, "I didn't know you'd be at the mall, today."

Kook forced a laugh. "Yeah, I didn't know you'd be here, either."

"Where have you been?"

"Uh..." Kook pointed behind him. "I just came out from a bookstore."

"What for?"

"Um, I bought a book for me mum."

Shaiden nodded. "What kind of book?"

"...Cookbook."

"May I see?"

"Uh..." Kook adjusted his goggles and quickly thought of another way to respond. "Um..." He smiled a little. "You look very pretty today, Shaiden."

Shaiden blinked. A brief pause. "Uh...thanks."

The two stared at each other, each unsure what to say or do next. As the bird looked at the ninja's face, something inside his head clicked. He got an idea how to make his gift more special.

Excited, the bird fumbled the gift in his hands and started forward. "Gotta go, see ya later!"

Before the ninja could respond, the bird "flew" past her. The ninja turned and watched as Kook ran off.

"See ya," she called back.

Shaiden kept her eyes on Kookaburra until she could no longer see him, then began to head forward. She suddenly stopped, then turned around towards the bird's direction. _You look very pretty today, Shaiden _echoed in her head. No one had ever told her that before. (Well, Ballista had once, but she wasn't saying it nicely.)

After standing there a moment longer, the ninja smiled, then walked on.

Kookaburra hurried back to the castle grounds. When he reached the front door of the stony fortress, he glanced around him to make sure no one had followed him. He wasn't able to detect anyone, so he entered.

Inside, Kook found a blue ink pen and sat down on his bed in his room. He cautiously looked at the door to make sure no one was spying on him, then opened the book to the back of the title page. With a click of his pen, he began to write.

When he was done, Kook set the pen down and re-read his message a couple times. Satisfied, he smiled and shut the book. He then got up and retrieved some wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and a blue bow. After he brought his supplies back to the bed, he pulled out a sheet of the shiny blue wrapping paper, then cut it from the tube. He carefully laid it out on the table, placed the book on top of it, and quickly wrapped it up.

Kook jumped and twisted in the air before he smacked the bow on top of the wrapped present. He cried out "whoo," then straightened up. He placed his hands on his hips and carefully scanned Shaiden's present.

_Hope she likes it.  
_


	9. Ice Cold Defenders

Down in the castle's Techni-Cave, the ingenious inventor of the Defenders was busy working. He was building a weapon for one of his friends as a Christmas present. It was actually a new version of one of the weapons he had already created, but with a few more features and advantages.

Tinkor was excited about seeing his invention come to life, and seeing the look on his comrade's face after he opened it. However, Tinkor was growing frustrated. This weapon was becoming more and more difficult to create than he had imagined. It kept malfunctioning. It either wasn't able to squirt slime, got clogged up after only two squirts, or burst altogether.

Tinkor took a deep breath as he finished making another adjustment. He then took the weapon in his hands, then aimed at the slime-covered target on the wall.

"Please work, please work," he chanted.

Tinkor fired, and the weapon burst, covering the inventor with slime. Tinkor cried out with surprise and stumbled back a bit. Once he realized what had just happened, he groaned, then wiped the goo off his face. He grunted and set the weapon back down on the table. He stared frustratedly at it. How the heck was he gonna get this thing ready by Christmas? The holiday was only a week away!

The inventor decided to take a break. He thought that a quick walk outside would do him some good. He'd been stuck inside the Techni-Cave all day, anyways. The inventor quickly wiped the rest of the green goo off of him, then exited the Techni-Cave.

Tinkor shivered when he stepped outside. Today was freezing. It was so cold that the surface of the moat was frozen thick enough that one could walk on top of it. The inventor wandered around for a minute or so, then found himself walking across the front wall of the castle. He would of kept walking, but a loud cry of joy from the moat caught his attention. He stopped next to the Defenders' Douse and looked down into the moat.

Kookaburra was sliding across the frozen moat. He had a huge smile plastered onto his face. Skabb was standing on the edge of the Starting Platform, watching him.

After the bird did a few skillful turns, he slid towards the Slippery Slope. He stepped one boot onto its surface, then grabbed the support line and pulled himself all the way to the top. He swayed a little on the edge of the Mace Roll, but was able to keep from falling. He turned towards the Starting Platform.

"Skabb, watch this!"

"I am watching!" the barbarian yelled. "Get on with it!"

Kook took a deep breath, then slid off the Slippery Slope. The next thing he knew, he was "flying" across the glassy sheet of ice.

"Whooooo!"

The bird jumped and twisted through the air, then spun around the frozen Baffling Barrels. Then he gracefully skated underneath the Mace Roll and around the Battle Axes, and twirled over the Rope Bridge of Disaster.

While Skabb was watching, another Defender began marching towards the moat. Skabb glanced at the warrior with the mohawk when he stopped next to him.

"What's bird brain up to, now?" Thorne grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Ice skating."

The alchemist and barbarian watched the Australian bird make a graceful turn across the ice before jumping and spinning in the air. He laughed out of sheer joy as he made a u-turn.

"Ah-ha-ha! Whoo! This is fun!" The bird whirled around, then made a quick turn past his two comrades. "Come on, guys! You've gotta try this!"

Thorne snorted. "Yeah, right!"

The barbarian stared at Kook, then down at the ice. After a long moment, Skabb shrugged.

"Ah, what the heck?" he said.

The barbarian slid off the orange platform and out onto the ice, slipping a little as he did so. After regaining his balance, he slowly pushed himself around, and eventually was moving like the wind.

"Whoo, this _is_ fun!" the barbarian shouted.

"That's the spirit, Skabb!" Kook replied.

Thorne growled and kept an icy eye on the two skating Defenders. Skabb ran circles all over the moat, and Kookaburra kept performing tricks. After he finished three more spins, Kookaburra glanced over at Thorne.

"Come on, mohawk boy!" Kook called, skating past him. "Join the fun!"

The alchemist's gray eyes flashed. "You call me mohawk boy again and I'll smash this moat wide open!"

"Whoa, don't do that, mate!"

Skabb skated over to Thorne. The alchemist's scowl hardened when he noticed Skabb had a big smile on his face.

"You two are acting like little Attackers!" Thorne declared, disgusted.

"Ah, come on, Thorne!" the barbarian cried. "Try it out!"

Before Thorne could protest, Skabb snatched the alchemist's wrist and pulled him onto the ice. He pushed him towards the Slippery Slope.

"SKABB!" Thorne shouted angrily, tripping a little.

Kook and Skabb laughed out loud, then skated towards him. They each took turns helping the alchemist around, even though he didn't appreciate the assistance.

But once he got a handle on it, Thorne actually turned out to be a pretty good skater. He was able to skillfully and even gracefully manuever his way around the moat. He wouldn't have stayed out on the ice, but Skabb kept preventing him from going back inside the castle. So, he was stuck sliding across the frozen moat with his coworkers.

"You're a natural, Thorne!" Kook called, smirking.

"Don't push it!" the alchemist seethed.

"Oh come on, don't pretend you're not enjoying yourself!" Skabb shouted, sliding past the alchemist.

Thorne growled, but didn't make any verbal replies. Whether he accepted it or not, he actually _was_ enjoying it.

Kookaburra finished whirling around the Baffling Barrels, then suddenly noticed Tinkor watching from the very top of the castle. Kook turned towards him.

"Tinkor, come join the party!" he yelled, gesturing him down.

The inventor smiled. "Okay!"

Tinkor quickly rushed down the castle and onto the orange Starting Platform. He then leapt out on the ice and began to skate. He was greeted warmly by Skabb, and the two were soon performing cool turns and tricks together.

Much to his delight, while the inventor was skating, he got an idea how to fix his malfunctioning weapon. He grinned triumphantly as he imagined himself overcoming the problem just in time for Christmas.

A little while later, without warning, the leader of the Defenders appeared on top of the Finishing Platform. She watched the four slide around for a moment, then raised her voice.

"Attention, Defenders!" she cried. "We're going to go look at Christmas lights! Are you coming?"

Thorne came to a screeching halt. Skabb finished doing a figure eight, then quit moving, as well. Tinkor stopped next to his barbarian friend. They all gave their attention to the noble knight.

After doing another twist on the ice, Kookaburra skid to a stop, then turned to his leader. He grinned. "Yeah! We've gotta go splat the houses with no decorations!"

Kook laughed out loud once he finished speaking. Tinkor and Skabb grinned evilly at each other. Thorne's face even had a shadow of a smile on it. He turned to the inventor and the barbarian.

"Right. Tinkor, go get some slime sticks!" he ordered. "And Skabb, you go get some goo grenades!"

"I'll get some splat balls and my Sling Splatter!" Kook declared excitedly, flapping his "wings."

"And I'll get my Mulching Mace," Thorne muttered to himself.

And so, the four male Defenders headed off the ice to prepare for their Christmas light viewing tradition. Oh, the joys of splatting and smashing the windows of unfestive houses and getting furious screams and flying fruitcake in return!

**A/N: Yes! School is almost over for the year! More time for Splatalot and writing!**

**Uh, please note that the last part wasn't supposed to offend anyone. I understand that some people aren't able to put their lights up during the season.**


	10. Sugar Cookies

**A/N: Warning: Contains some Doctor Who spoilers from Season 6 and 7.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Splatalot or Doctor Who.**

The castle's alchemist paced across the sleek floor of the kitchen. He opened the oven to look at his latest creations. He nodded when he saw that they were finished. He opened the oven even wider, then carefully took the hot tray into his gloved hands. He carried it across the tiled floor, then set it down on the counter.

Thorne then moved to the farther side of the kitchen and opened up a small drawer. He located a silver spatula and took into his right hand. He flipped it, then walked back to the counter. He aimed the spatula in front of the tray.

_Steady, steady..._

Thorne carefully but quickly lifted a sugar cookie onto his silver utensil and put it on a large cooling rack. Then, just as swift and cautious, he did the same with the last eleven.

Once all the hot cookies were on the cooling rack, Thorne rubbed his gloved hands together, then walked over to the kitchen cabinet. He opened it up, scanned the inside, then pulled out a large red plate. He set it down on the counter and began to move the cooled cookies onto it.

Why was Thorne, the castle's intimidating alchemist with the maniacal mohawk and the Mulching Mace, making sugar cookies? Well, Thorne was stuck with the task because of nine reasons: One, he was good at it. Chemistry and cooking were actually quite similar, so he could adapt from the lab to the kitchen pretty well.

And I never said that he wanted to do the job.

The other eight reason were that Ballista would burn the cookies, Kook would end up eating all the batter, Knightriss didn't want to, Tinkor wouldn't wash his hands with soap, Skabb would break something (and maybe burn the castle down), no one could find Shaiden, Gildar would make all the cookies look like him, and Crocness...well, let's just say no one wanted their cookies to end up tasting a little mossy.

Just as Thorne finished moving the last cooled cookie to the red plate, he heard faint jingling noises and some whistling. He looked up just in time to see Kook's shadow appear in the entryway.

_Oh, great, _Thorne thought, groaning silently.

The Australian bird walked into the kitchen, still whistling. He ceased when he had stopped in front of the counter. His lips curved into a smile.

"Someone's in the kitchen with Thor-ny," Kook sang, leaning against the counter.

The alchemist glared at the kookaburra. "Are there any birds more annoying than you?"

Kook smirked. His blue eyes suddenly shifted to the unfrosted cookies sitting on the plate. His face brightened.

"Ooh, are those sugar cookies?"

Thorne viciously slapped away Kook's extended hand, which resulted in a small cry of pain escaping from the bird's lungs.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go fly south for the winter?" Thorne growled, whipping the plate of cookies out of Kook's reach.

The bird rubbed his stinging hand. "...Would you give me a cookie if I did?" Kook asked, a hopeful smile spreading over his face.

Thorne, unamused, pointed to the kitchen's entryway.

"Go on! I don't want to see your face in here for the rest of the night!"

Kook groaned, then reluctantly walked out. Thorne kept his eyes on him until he disappeared, then turned back to the task at hand.

When he was sure that Thorne wasn't watching, Kook edged back to the entryway. He crossed his arms and pouted as he observed Thorne put more dough on a cookie sheet. Why wouldn't he give him a cookie? They were hecka delicious, and he only wanted one!

The bird cocked his head as he watched the alchemist. Suddenly, a scheme began to form in his mind. After a moment, a mischievous smirk appeared on his face, and he ran from the kitchen's entryway to get started on his plan.

Later on, after all the cookies had been baked, Thorne had begun to spread buttercream frosting on the cookies. After he finished frosting one, he would grab a tube of red, green, or gold icing and make a picture on the cookie, then grab a bottle of red, green, or blue sprinkles and apply the colored crystals to the cookie.

Thorne had finished decorating one cookie with a Christmas tree and had sprinkled its edges blue, then had placed it back on the large red plate. Just as he was about to frost another one, the castle's phone rang. Thorne ignored it at first, but it kept ringing. And ringing.

Thorne growled as he grabbed a tube filled with gold icing. "Someone get that!"

The alchemist waited for someone to appear, then shook his head and looked back down at the cookies. _Since when did this castle have a phone?_

Guess what? No one listened. The phone kept ringing. And ringing. And ringing.

Finally, after drawing about half of a golden bell on the cookie, Thorne let out a loud groan of anger, slammed the icing tube down on the counter, then marched out of the kitchen and to the phone. He yanked it off of the receiver and threw it to his ear.

"WHAT?!" he yelled.

"'Ello, Thorne, this is the Doctor."

Thorne paused. _What?_

Actually, the voice _did _sound like the Doctor's. In fact, if Thorne didn't know any better, he would have thought that it really was. But Thorne wasn't easily fooled.

The alchemist placed his free hand on his hip. "Oh yeah? Where are you right now?"

"In the TARDIS."

"Who's with you?"

"...No one at the moment."

"What happened to your companions?"

"...Um...Amy and...and...Rory...were, uh...sent back in time."

Thorne tapped one of his heavy boots. "What about your wife? Isn't she there?"

"My wife? Oh yeah, she's here."

"You just said no one was there with you."

"...She just walked in."

"What's her name?"

"Uh...R...River Song. River Song."

Thorne growled._ Lucky guess. _He was about to ask another question, but "the Doctor" interrupted.

"So, would you like to come join us? We'll have "river-fulls" of fun! Ha ha-"

"Doctor Who" abruptly cut his laugh off, but it was too late. Thorne already figured out who was calling. He angrily slammed the phone back on the receiver and ran for the kitchen. And sure enough, there at the counter was Kook, cellphone in hand, reaching for a frosted cookie.

"KOOK!"

The bird whipped his head in the alchemist's direction just as his hand wrapped around a cookie. Kook stuffed it into his mouth and ran for his life. Thorne chased him out of the kitchen and down the hall. As he "flew away," Kook, still chewing, turned around and gave the seething Thorne a "thumbs-up."

"It tastes fantastic, mate!"

**A/N: Just in case you're interested, do you know what the candy cane symbolizes? It's shaped as a shepherd's staff, and if you turn it over, it's also shaped like a "J," for Jesus. It's white color symbolizes Jesus' purity of sin, and the red stripes symbolize His blood spilled for us.**


	11. Christmas Eve

**A/N: Merry Christmas! I wrote two chapters back-to-back! (...I'm acting like that's the most exciting thing in the world...)**

**Also, just in case I need to source this, the later mention of "It's a Splatastic Life" came from the Splat dungeon's Twitter page thing.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

Gildar was sitting in the castle's living room, surveying the Christmas tree. The dark green tree glimmered with sparkling ornaments of all colors, shapes, and sizes. It was so pretty that the viking took out his mirror and began to compare his glowing complexion with the tree's shimmering features.

While Gildar was busy comparing his eyes to the ice blue star, Crocness walked in. She was carrying two thin parcels wrapped in red and black colors. She knelt down next to the tree and placed her gifts underneath it.

"Merry Christmas, Gildar," Crocness said, standing up.

"Crocness, do you think this tree's more handsome than me?" Gildar asked, gesturing at the large evergreen.

The reptile woman stared at the viking. She rolled her eyes a moment later.

"Gildar, of all the ridiculous questions you could ever ask..."

The viking sighed with relief. "You're right. What was I thinking? I'm definitely more handsome."

Crocness shook her head. "Not what I meant," she muttered under her breath.

Gildar put his mirror down, then grabbed the thick present sitting next to him. He placed his wrapped gift underneath the tree next to Crocness's. He straightened up, then pulled something out of his pocket. It was another present. He inspected it for a moment, rubbing its golden surface with his index finger. When he felt he had stared at it long enough, he carefully hid the box behind a few thicker branches of the tree.

No sooner had the viking finished that, Ballista and Skabb walked in. The huntress was carrying a green bag and a medium-sized, red box, and Skabb carried...something wrapped in blue. Crocness acknowledged their presence by turning to them.

"Merry Christmas," she greeted.

"Merry Christmas," Ballista replied cheerfully.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Skabb yelled happily.

Crocness smiled. The two Defenders knelt down and placed their gifts underneath the tree. Skabb excitedly jumped up as Ballista calmly straightened herself.

"Christmas is tomorrow!" he declared. "Skabb can't wait!"

Ballista smirked, then crossed her arms and looked up at the star on top of the tree. The huntress took a deep, calm breath. She could smell the scent of baking meat and desserts as air filled her lungs. Everything felt so warm, inviting, and peaceful.

It was then that Kookaburra came bounding in, holding two gifts wrapped in blue. He had a wider-than-usual smile on his face.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" he declared before joyously laughing.

His fellow Defenders replied with another lively "Merry Christmas!". Kook "flew" past them, then bent down and gently laid his two presents underneath the tree. He took a careful look at the ones already sitting there.

"Which one's for me?" Kook wondered aloud.

"The invisible one," Ballista replied.

Suddenly, Shaiden appeared in the doorway. When Kook noticed her, his face lit up.

"Merry Christmas, Shaiden!" he called.

"Merry Christmas," the ninja replied. "Dinner's ready."

Skabb grinned. "ALRIGHT!" The barbarian ran towards the hall. "COME ON! LET'S EAT! I WANNA SEE HOW MY ROASTED UNICORN TURNED OUT!"

The Defenders quickly followed after Skabb into the dining hall. When they arrived there, they found Tinkor, Knightriss, and Thorne waiting for them.

The Defenders would usually start their Christmas Eve by eating a "light" dinner. They would later snack on cookies and sweets while they watched Christmas shows, then go outside and have an extreme snowball and splatball fight.

After about a half hour of dining, the Defenders had finished eating everything on the table. The utensils, empty bottles of sparkling grape cider, and bones from a turkey and unicorn were the only remnants left from dinner. Six of the nine cleared the table, and Knightriss, Thorne, and Shaiden went to the living room to get it ready to watch Christmas specials.

While Shaiden made a fire, Thorne brought in a plate covered with gingerbread cookies and frosted sugar cookies. He set it down with ease on the coffee table. Knightriss brought in a tray covered in mugs of hot chocolate and set it besides the plate of baked goods. After doing that, she began to get the television set ready. Eventually, the rest of the Defenders entered in.

Kookaburra "flew" in the room and up to Knightriss, who was standing next to the television. He handed her the DVD set he was carrying.

"Thank you, my dear," Knightriss said, taking the DVDs into her hands.

After grabbing at the desserts, everyone took a seat. Knightriss turned the first movie on, and then sat down, herself. Kookaburra took a bite of his cookie, then nudged Thorne.

"Nice cookies, mate!"

Thorne growled.

The Defenders spent a couple hours watching various Christmas specials. They didn't watch any of the classics we're used to; they watched Splatalot originals, such as "Splatman is Coming to Town," "Splatty the Snowman," "It's a Splatastic Life," and "Rudy the Red-Nosed-Unicorn."

When the credits for the last special began rolling, Shaiden shut the television off. She then suggested that they all go outside and have their annual snowball and splatball fight. Everyone agreed by leaping up and rushing for the castle's front doors.

It was a dark night, but the bright Christmas decorations provided enough light needed to see. The dark night combined with the colored Christmas lights made everything look and feel beautiful.

The Defenders had a great time smacking each other with snowballs, splatballs, and slimy snowballs. (And Skabb also enjoyed smashing any snowmen he found.) Kookaburra went insane with his Sling Splatter, and probably hit everyone over a hundred times each.

It was twelve o' clock by the time the Defenders decided to turn in. Everyone's face was a rose color and bright with cheer (not including Thorne) as they walked back inside the castle. After bidding each other "Merry Christmas" a few more times, the Defenders each headed off to their own rooms.

Kook walked into his room, then shut the door behind him. He took a deep breath and removed his snow-covered goggles from his head. He tossed them aside, then fell back on top of his bed. He put his hands behind his head and stared out the window at the twinkling lights. He watched the sparkling colors for a moment, wondering how Skabb and Tinkor were able to hang them up on a twenty-feet-high turret without a ladder.

After a while, Kookaburra took a deep breath, then began to sing quietly to himself.

_"Silent night, Holy night._

_All is calm, All is bright._

_Round yon virgin mother and child._

_Sleep in heavenly peace,_

_Sleep in heavenly peace._

_Silent night, Holy night,_

_Shepherds quake at the sight,_

_Glories stream from heaven afar,_

_Heavenly hosts sing Al-le-lu-ia,_

_Christ the Savior is born,_

_Christ the Savior is born..."_

**A/N: Just in case anyone's confused/interested, God is three Persons in one: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It's a little confusing, but all three are the same Person.**


	12. Christmas Day

**A/N: Some of the stuff I put in here came from Facebook, so...yeah. Enjoy!**

The first golden rays of sunlight hit against the Kingdom of Splatalot, making the frosty trees, ice, and snow sparkle. A freezing wind gently blew around the three colossal courses, and the first snow of the day began to fall. Everything was quiet. All was peaceful.

Until Kook's distinctive voice rang throughout the entire castle.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

The bird went flying through the halls, laughing and shouting the joyous news as he did so. "Everyone! It's Christmas! It's Christmas! Come on into the living room so we can open our presents!"

Almost immediately after, each of the Defenders' doors swung open. Everyone then gathered into the living room, where Kook was waiting. He was standing by the gleaming Christmas tree, grinning cheerfully.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" he greeted before laughing.

Soon afterwards, everyone found a place to sit. The leader of the Defenders stood next to the fireplace. Once everyone quieted down, they all turned to the noble knight. Knightriss cleared her throat, then leaned one of her powerful hands on top of the fireplace mantel.

"Now, Defenders, remember: Christmas isn't all about presents." She snapped her head towards the top of the tree. "We have that star to remind us what it's about. We give presents because the greatest gift of all was given to us."

"Christ the Savior was born!" the Shaiden declared, recalling the words of Silent Night.

Knightriss nodded. "That's right. The true King was born. So remember that, and this'll be a great holiday." The leader turned and took two stuffed stockings from the mantel. "Now, Defenders: go get your gifts and hand them out!"

"Sweet!" Kook cried, springing up from his seat.

Knightriss smirked, then began to hand out the stockings to her fellow warriors.

The Splatalot Defenders crowded around the Christmas tree, and the presents began to flow around the room. Somehow, Shaiden had gotten one in her hands, and was busy reading the tag attached to it.

_To: Shaiden_  
_From: Kook_

Shaiden tightened her grip around her present and ripped the paper off of it. The ninja smirked at what she found. Kook had gotten her sharp, silver ninja stars. Nice.

The ninja placed the thirty stars inside both of her black cases located below her belt. Once she finished doing that, she glanced underneath the tree to see what else was there. Looking closely, she noticed that one present hadn't been found yet.

Shaiden bent underneath the tree and pulled the present out. She straightened herself and took the wrapped item into her hands. She turned it up and down a couple times, then found the tag attached to it.

_To: Shaiden  
From: Kook_

The ninja turned herself away from the tree a little bit, then slowly began to tear the paper off of the item. It wasn't long until she discovered what it was. It was a joke book.

Well...she _did _like stand-up comedy.

Shaiden opened the book to the title page. To her surprise, there was something inscribed on the back of it. Turning there, she noticed that Kookaburra had written something there for her. She read it carefully:

_Kook: Hey Shaiden, why did the kookaburra cross the moat?_  
_Shaiden: I don't know. Why?_  
_Kook: To get to the pretty ninja on the other side!_

_Merry Christmas, sweetheart!_  
_-Kookaburra_

Shaiden stared at the message for a long moment. She then looked over her shoulder at the kookaburra. He was looking back at her, his trademark grin shining from his face. Shaiden laughed a little, then smiled back at him. After Kook turned away, Shaiden grabbed a package wrapped in red paper and gold ribbon, then located the vain viking. She found him looking underneath another part of the large tree, then walked over to him.

"Hey, Gildar!" she called.

Gildar froze, then turned around. When he sat up, Shaiden handed him the large box in her hands.

"Merry Christmas!" she said, smiling a little.

Gildar grinned in his usual confident way. "Thanks, Shaiden."

The ninja folded her hands behind her back and watched as the viking teared away at the gift. His jaw dropped in awe a few moments later.

"All my favorite hair products!" he cried. "Shampoo, color tone restoring shampoo, conditioner, extra volumizing conditioner-" The viking gasped. "There's even guyliner! Shipped directly from Handsomeville!" Gildar looked at Shaiden and smiled. "My dear ninja, thank you so much!"

Shaiden smirked. "You're welcome, Gildar."

Gildar then put his package of hair products and guyliner down on his chair, bent back underneath the tree, pulled out a thick package, and looked around for the person he had gotten it for.

In another part of the room, Ballista revealed that she had drew Crocness's name from Knightriss's helmet. The kilted huntress had purchased Crocness a purple coat and a pair of new boots. The reptilian woman was most excited by the new, shiny, black boots.

"Crikey!" Crocness cried, rubbing one of her boot's leathery surface. "I love them!" She turned to her beaming comrade. "Thanks Ballista!"

"You're welcome, Croc, and Merry Christmas!"

"Albert, look at these!" Crocness said, holding her new boots up in front of her pet.

"Excuse me..."

Balista and Crocness looked up to see the cocky viking standing next to them.

The kilted huntress nodded a greeting. "Merry Christmas, Gildar."

The viking handed Ballista the thick package he was carrying. "Merry Christmas."

The huntress looked at Crocness, who just half-smiled. Ballista stifled a cringe, then took the present into her hands. Gildar stepped back and watched the blonde archer as she tore the red paper off the present. Ballista wasn't at all surprised by what she found herself staring at.

"You got me Shoved By a Rainbow," she stated. "Great."

The viking nodded and glanced at the burning fire. "I saw the other copy I gave you in the fireplace the other day, so I got you a brand new one."

Ballista pushed back the urge to roll her eyes. "Oh, thanks, Gildar."

The viking nodded again.

Ballista looked over at the reptile woman. The huntress, unaware that Crocness was watching Gildar subtly grab a box from the tree, looked back down at the book. She turned it over a couple of times, then shrugged.

_Oh, well. I guess it's better than nothing, right?_

"Um..."

Ballista looked up again. Gildar was still standing before her, now holding something behind his back. He coughed.

"...And, uh, I also got you this."

Gildar revealed a golden box in his hands, then handed it to the surprised huntress. Ballista took it, then removed the red bow and ribbon. She glanced at the viking, then opened it. Her eyes immediately widened.

"Whoa..."

Gildar smiled. The huntress took the pretty piece of jewelry into her hands. It was a bright gold necklace fashioned with a sparkling ruby pendant. Ballista looked at Gildar with her jaw partly dropped, not knowing what to say.

"Why don't you put it on?" Gildar suggested.

"I think I will," the huntress said barely above a whisper, draping the gold chain around her neck.

Gildar flipped his hair. "Do you like it?"

"I..." Ballista took the sparkling ruby into her hand. "I love it."

The viking fist-pumped._ Yes! Gildar, you wonderful viking, you've really done it this Christmas!_

Ballista surveyed the pendant in her hand for a moment longer, then turned back to the viking. "Gildar, that was...surprisingly thoughtful of you. Thank you."

Gildar smiled at her. "Merry Christmas."

Ballista smiled back. "Merry Christmas."

Crocness half-smiled, then stood up and grabbed the presents she had bought for Tinkor. When she walked over to him, she saw that he had just given Skabb his present. She paused to watch Skabb unwrap a slime stick shaped like an axe. Skabb's face brightened like a Christmas light.

"I call it the Slime Chopper!" Tinkor declared.

Crocness cocked her head. "But, Tinkor, didn't you already make that? The Slimy Slicer?"

The inventor nodded. "Yes! But it's an improved version!" He turned back to Skabb. "It has a larger slime capacity, and Skabb can slime twice as fast as before!"

Skabb grinned evilly. "AAAGH! NICE!"

Tinkor laughed maniacally. "Two times the slime in half the time!"

"Thanks, Tinkor! Skabb loves it!"

The two best friends high-fived. Crocness then handed her gifts to the inventor. Tinkor trembled with excitement, then tore the paper off the two items.

"Video games!" he declared. "Inventor's Duty! And Inventor's Duty 2!"

Skabb looked at the games in Tink's hands. "Don't you destroy zombies in that game?"

"Robot zombies!" Tinkor shouted eagerly. He turned to the reptile-woman. "Thank you, Crocness!"

Crocness grinned and nodded. "Merry Christmas!"

Meanwhile, Kookaburra was busy looking through his stocking as he waited for the person who bought him something to hand him a present.

_Alright, what's in here? Sweet, some liquorice from down under! And...candy canes, those are good...ooh, some bird seed..._

"Ahem."

The bird looked up. Standing in front of him was Thorne. He was holding a wrapped, familiar-looking shape in his hands. It was wrapped with green paper and topped with a purple bow.

Thorne roughly thrust the object into Kook's hands. "Here."

Kook took the item into his hands. He grinned, then tore the paper away. When he was done with the task, the bird blinked with surprised. Thorne had gotten him a blender. Kook looked up at the emotionless alchemist. He cocked his head, confused.

Thorne crossed his arms. "I told you I'd get you a blender for Christmas, didn't I?"

Something in Kook's mind clicked. "Very funny, Thorne," he commented sarcastically.

Thorne cackled, then playfully hit the bird on the shoulder. "Maybe you should open it."

Kook looked back down at the blender. He then noticed that there was some light blue wrapping paper inside the kitchen tool. He glanced at the alchemist, then nodded.

"Alright."

The bird removed the lid from the blender, then stuck his hand through the paper. He felt it touch something thin yet hard. He grabbed it, then lifted it out. Kook gasped as he stared at the object in his hands.

"The new Christmas album by the Bluebirds!" Kook scanned the list of songs on the back of the album. "Hoiyven! There's even a bonus track by the Jonas Jays!"

"Merry Christmas," Thorne said. His tone didn't even sound cold.

Kookaburra laughed. Then, to the alchemist's surprise, he hugged him.

"Thanks, Thorne!" he cried.

A pause.

"Let go of me," Thorne said, irritated.

A few yards away, Skabb was staring at Knightriss intently as she opened her present. She just finished, and was now scanning over the peculiar object in her hand.

"So...what does Knightriss think?" he asked.

Knightriss smiled at the barbarian. "It's wonderful, Master Skabb."

The barbarian had made the knight an ornament. It was composed of a string of dental floss and a long, sparkling blue horn.

"I'm glad to hear that, Knightriss!" Skabb declared.

The knight touched the pointed bone hanging from the string. "I love the horn, dear boy."

Skabb grinned proudly. "I got it from the unicorn we had last night!"

Knightriss laughed. "I'll hang it up right now," she declared, standing up.

The leader of the Defenders walked over to the Christmas tree. While she hung up Skabb's ornament, Knightriss looked over at the Defender with the mohawk. He had just opened the presents she got for him.

"Do you like your new bottles of chemicals, Master Thorne?"

Thorne nodded and picked one up. "Yeah. I needed new ones, since SOMEONE spilled all of the other ones I had!" he growled, glaring directly at the Australian bird.

Kookaburra light-heartedly hit his arm and laughed. "You were doing so good, mate! You were cheery for a full two minutes! That's a record!"

Knightriss smirked, then asked, "What do you think of the sonic screwdriver replica, my boy?"

Thorne turned the screwdriver around in his hand. He was a bit reluctant to answer, since Kookaburra was right next to him.

Finally, he looked up at the knight and nodded. "I like it. Thanks."

Kook smirked. "Whovian."

"Shut up," Thorne growled.

Later on in the morning, Knightriss, Skabb, and Shaiden revealed that they had breached Santa's workshop, and had brought back more presents for everyone. Once everyone finished opening all of those, they ate a late breakfast.

From then until dinner, the Defenders kept themselves busy by spending more time with each other. They would talk or do some type of seasonal activity. For instance, Kook and Tinkor sang some carols together, Skabb, Thorne, and Shaiden made dinner, and Crocness showed Knightriss how to skate on top of the moat. Gildar kept trying to get Ballista under the mistletoe, but she never gave in. However, she told him that he was the most handsome viking she ever met (albeit being a little sarcastic) and that she would sit next to him at dinner. That was enough to satisfy him.

Finally, dinner came, and all the Defenders were seated at the table. Skabb was busy cutting his baked unicorn, and Gildar and Ballista were passing out glasses of sparkling grape cider and hot apple cider. Kookaburra had stuck his new CD in a player somewhere, and the Christmas music composed by the Bluebirds was swirling around the warm atmosphere.

Kook and Shaiden were sitting next to each other. As Skabb finished passing out slices of his unicorn, Kookaburra subtly gestured for the ninja to lay her hand in his. He smiled at her when she complied.

Knightriss then got everyone's attention by hitting her glass with the end of her spoon. Once all eyes were on her, she smiled, then cried, "Merry Christmas, Defenders!"

The Defenders echoed "Merry Christmas!", then began to feast. Everything seemed perfect; they all enjoyed each others' company, the food was fantastic, the atmosphere was warm and inviting...everything was just awesome. Even Thorne was in a fairly good mood.

Truly, it was a fantastic Christmas Day for them all.

**A/N: I know, the Defenders probably wouldn't say that "Christ the Savior was born" on Christmas morning. (Maybe the people who play them would, though...) But hey, it got your attention, right?**

**I know you've probably heard the nativity story over and over and over again, but please just think about it this Christmas. Jesus came to experience our suffering and to suffer to save us. To save you. He loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. And all you have to do is accept His free gift of salvation.**

**So, on that note, Merry Christmas! Have an awesome holiday! God bless you all!**


	13. The 26th

**A/N: Surprise! I've got one last Christmas one-shot for you! Enjoy!**

It was the morning after Christmas, one of the saddest mornings of the year. It was the day when all the magic had left, where everything felt normal once again, and everyone would say, either cheerfully or sadly, "only 364 more days until Christmas."

Around nine thirty on that morning, the blue ninja awoke. After rubbing her eyes, she realized that it was the day after Christmas. Unfazed, the ninja leapt up out of bed and landed on all fours on the ground. She then stood up and got ready for the day. There were no Attackers that day, of course, so Shaiden was going to spend the day using her new "toys."

After latching on all her ninja gear, Shaiden left her room, shut the door behind her, then walked out of the hall. As she passed the bathroom, she could hear some water running. That told her Gildar was in the middle of some deep conditioning.

As Shaiden passed through another hallway, she stopped at the entryway of the living room and peered inside. Tinkor and Skabb were busy playing Tink's new video game. She looked up at the Christmas tree. The magic it had been brimming with the previous night seemed to be gone completely. Now it seemed ordinary, and Shaiden could tell that the tree was dead.

It didn't sadden her, however. She knew that every good holiday must come to an end, and she had had fun while it lasted. The ninja stoically passed by, then made her way into the dining hall.

Knightriss, Ballista, Crocness, and Thorne were at the table, eating breakfast. After a brief greeting, Shaiden took her seat and began to cover her plate with food. She helped herself to a pancake, some eggs, bacon, and poured herself a cup of hot chocolate. As she chewed away on her eggs, she noticed that she hadn't seen someone all morning.

"Where's Kook?" she asked after swallowing.

Knightriss glanced at her. "He's outside."

"Has he already had breakfast?" the ninja inquired, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

Crocness looked at Shaiden and shrugged. "Don't know. He left pretty early this morning."

"He probably did," Thorne commented, stabbing one of his ten pancakes. "He never skips breakfast."

Shaiden felt a little suspicious, but brushed the feeling away and took a bite of her pancake. She told herself that he was probably just planning a surprise snowball attack on someone, and continued to consume her breakfast.

Later on, Shaiden had went outside in the snow to try out her new weapons. She mercilessly threw four ninja stars at a time at various trees, never wondering once how they must have felt.

Now that Christmas had passed, the wintry weather only felt like...well, just like winter. And though all the lights and decorations were still up on the castle, they didn't seem as magical as before. But Shaiden didn't care; she had enjoyed the holiday while it lasted, and it gave her something to look forward to next year.

Around two o' clock, Shaiden had sheathed her Splatana and was walking back to the castle. She entered, then shut the door, shivering a little as she did so. After that, she headed for the dining hall.

In the dining hall, Gildar was busy explaining to Thorne why it wasn't unmanly to wear mascara. Or, as he called it, guyliner. Thorne was listening attentively, but the viking wasn't anywhere near convincing him that there was nothing wrong with a man wearing makeup.

"Hey, Thorne, " Shaiden interrupted, grabbing both her brother's and the viking's attention, "has Kook come in yet?"

Thorne shrugged. "I haven't seen him."

"Me neither," Gildar stated. "In fact, I haven't seen him all day."

Thorne looked at the viking. "That's probably because your mascara's blocking your vision."

Gildar glared at the smirking alchemist. "Again, it's called guyliner, and there's nothing wrong with wearing it."

"For a woman."

Shaiden left the dining hall, totally forgetting the reason why she had even entered it in the first place. She felt a little worried about Kookaburra. Something must be up if no one had seen him all day. So, being careful not to let anyone know what she was doing, the ninja stepped back outside into the cold snow in search of Kook.

After looking around the moat, the ninja found the kookaburra leaning over the railing of the Stockade. He was humming quietly to himself. As Shaiden observed him from on top of one of the Stockade's orange roofs, she noticed that he looked downcast and depressed. It also seemed like he was humming to himself in an attempt to cheer himself up, but it wasn't working.

The ninja silently jumped down from the roof. Kookaburra was still completely oblivious to her presence. Just as quiet as before, Shaiden slowly walked up to him.

"Kook?"

Startled, the bird whipped his head to the left. After seeing who had spoke, he smiled slightly.

"Hey, Shaiden."

The ninja stepped closer to him. "You alright?"

Kook glanced out at the courtyard. "Ah...I'm fine."

Shaiden crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow. "Something's telling me otherwise."

Kook avoided looking the ninja in the eyes.

"Come on, what's wrong?" the ninja asked.

Kook's face had melted back into a depressed expression. He was staring longingly at the frozen courtyard, noticing that it had lost all of its Christmas charm. He sighed. Shaiden instantly understood.

"You're sad that Christmas is over?" she inquired.

Kookaburra sighed again, and slowly nodded. "Yeah."

Shaiden unfolded her arms and laid a hand on top of the purple railing. "But you had fun, didn't you? It was a great day, right? And we still have New Year's to look forward to."

Kook nodded, but he didn't seem at all enlightened. Shaiden, feeling a little sympathetic towards the bird, placed her hand on his shoulder-

-then yanked it back with surprise.

"Kook, you're freezing!"

The bird looked at his shoulder. "Really?" He placed his own hand on it, then pulled it away. "Huh, I hadn't noticed..."

The ninja watched as the bird returned his downcast gaze to the courtyard. She glanced over at his shoulder once more.

_I hadn't noticed how cold I was when-_

Shaiden suddenly remembered the night she had watched Kook sing. She remembered how depressed she had felt, but then how warm and content she was as she listened to the bird sing Silent Night.

Shaiden put her eyes back on Kookaburra's face. "You have a lovely voice."

Kook blinked, then turned his head to look at her. "Huh?"

"I heard you sing the other night."

Kook blinked again, surprised. "You did?"

The ninja nodded. "Yes."

Kook paused. A shadow of a smile appeared on his downtrodden face. "And...you liked it?"

"I did. It cheered me up."

The bird cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Shaiden placed her hand on the Stockade's railing. "Before that night, I had been feeling depressed. Even though everything seemed perfect for the Christmas season, I still felt like something was missing. I was unable to sleep that night, so I decided to walk around the castle. While I was walking around, I heard your singing. The song you beautifully sang reminded me what Christmas is all about, and I finally felt at peace."

Kookaburra smiled a little. "Really?"

Shaiden nodded.

The bird smiled a little bit more. "I'm glad to have been of help. And that you like my voice."

Shaiden nodded again. Kook slowly turned back to the courtyard, and the ninja glanced around at the Stockade and its surroundings. The white lights were turned on, and the sky was a bit cloudy. It began to snow very lightly.

As Shaiden observed the environment, she tried thinking of a way to cheer her kooky friend up. She ended up thinking about how kind and sweet Kook had been during the season. She could suddenly feel a warm, excited feeling when she re-read in her mind the joke Kook had written her for Christmas. She had felt that same feeling that Christmas morning, as well. She recalled that she had even felt it at dinner when she placed her hand in his.

And then, Shaiden knew just what to do.

"You know, I never did thank you for cheering me up," Shaiden said, turning back to Kook. "Let me thank you."

Kook moved his gaze from the snow to the ninja. He gave her another small smile. "Ah, Shaiden, you don't have to thank me for anything. I'm glad that I helped you feel better."

"Kook, if you had never sang that song, I wouldn't have been reminded of the most important thing about Christmas. And now, I want to help you out."

The bird shrugged a little. "I don't think thanking me's gonna help me feel any better, sweetheart."

"Sure it will."

Kookaburra looked at her curiously and turned himself a bit more to face her. "How?"

Shaiden smiled sweetly at him. "I'll show you."

You don't have to be much of a genius to know what she did. Do the math, I ain't saying: ninja's lips + bird's cheek.

Shaiden pulled away a second later. Kook's face had turned bright red, and he found himself stumbling on his feet. He would have tumbled into the Stockade if Shaiden hadn't grabbed him and pulled him more towards the railing.

"Wow...whao!" Kook cried, still a little dazed. "Woo!"

Shaiden smirked. "Feel better, now?"

Kook rubbed his face, then let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I do."

Shaiden smiled. She was about to say something else, when suddenly, a huge burst of energy shot through the bird. Kook laughed again, then raised his arms over his head and began spinning around on the catwalk. Shaiden smirked as the bird began to shout "woo-hoo" joyously-

-then fell into the Stockade. After about five minutes, Shaiden managed to get him back onto the Pardoning Platform, then suggested that he show her the new music album he got for Christmas. Kook, feeling a bit embarrassed, quickly agreed.

Shaiden looked seriously at the bird. "And remember: what happened in the Stockade STAYS in the Stockade."

Kook nodded vigorously. "My beak is sealed! There's no way I'm telling Thorne!"

Shaiden smiled, then took Kookaburra's hand in hers. He smiled back at her, then tightened his grip. Then the two walked across the Pardoning Platform and out into the falling snow. And, though it wasn't Christmas anymore, they both felt something that was like Christmas's special magic warm their hearts.

And it would stay that way until they found out that the viking _and_ the ninja's brother had been watching them for half of the whole time.

**A/N: AAAAAGGHH! I'm such a romantic! Why?! WHY?! Oh, the horror! Sigh. Just don't tell anybody I know that I admitted it, okay?**

**Thanks for reading, you guys! I hope you all had a great Christmas!**


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